Emitìnehänə
General information Emitìnehänə is a descendant of the language Mentekan, having undergone many phonological, syntactical, and lexical changes throughout thousands of years. The lexicon is still mostly derived from Mentekan, but the grammar draws more on foreign influences. Phonology Consonants Vowels Diphthongs The three diphthongs are /eɪ/, /aɪ/, and /aʊ/. They are counted as single vowels in the syllable. Transcription Often the schwa is omitted in transcriptions due to its predictable nature. Phonotactics The syllable structure of Emitìnehänə is (e)C(a)V(e)(n/C)(ə). C stands for any consonant or consonant cluster and V stands for any vowel or diphthong. n stands for the consonants /z/, /ts/, /n/, /m/, /tʃ/, /ʃ/, and /s/, while a stands for the approximants /j/ and /w/. The e places an /e/ before every consonant in the n category, but mostly for words derived from Mentekan. A vowel combination of /ee/ changes into /i/, and a combination of /ae/ changes into /æ/. The ə only places an /ə/ if the syllable is the end of a word and there is a final consonant. The glottal stop /ʔ/ cannot be placed at the initial consonant of the initial syllable of a word. The stress pattern places stress on all the syllables with front vowels except for /e/. If two front vowel syllables are next to each other, the first syllable takes precedence. Grammar Sentence Structure The canon word order of Emitìnehänə is SOV, with subclauses being SVO. The subclauses are attached to the modified word by a conjunction preceding the subclause. There are two kinds of subclauses, relative and causative. Conjunctions There are several conjunctions used to link clauses. Numbers Emitìnehänə has a largely unchanged base 10 numeral system from Mentekan. Nouns The nouns of Emitìnehänə are relatively simple, having lost most of the inflection found in Mentekan and not having any indicators of definiteness or number. The nouns are often arbitrarily truncated to form a colloquial register. Pronouns The pronouns of Emitìnehänə come from the pronomial affixes of Mentekan, and are inflected for gender and person. There are now only two genders, the animate and inanimate gender. The formal register is on the left while the colloquial register is on the right. The reciprocal pronouns cannot accept pronoun modifiers. Pronoun Modifiers The pronouns can by modified by pronoun modifiers attached preceding the pronoun. The modifiers do not inflect. The possessive and reflexive prefixes have been rendered homophones by the sound change from Mentekan, and thus can only be distinguished by context. The intensive pronoun is attached after the noun it refers to for emphasis. Verbs The verbs have lost the complex affix system, only keeping some of the tense and aspect conjugations. The verbs are still used as adjectives to some extent, although a new adjective class has emerged. The verbs now have no distinction between transitive and intransitive. Nominalization A verb can be used as a noun by removing any conjugation, thereby changing it to infinitive form. Participles Verbs can be used as adjectives preceding a noun by adding an adjectival enclitic. Supine The verb can take a supine form by adding an enclitic. The verb is then attached preceding the action verb to express the purpose of the clause. Adjectives The adjectives in Emitìnehänə express voice and number when attached to a verb, and definiteness and number when attached to a noun. In addition to this, they also can serve as broad descriptors of state. Demonstratives also fall in this category as they are added preceding a word. The order of adjectives is as follows: #noun/verb #voice/definiteness/number #state #demonstrative State Comparative Superlative Demonstratives Demonstratives may be attached to any noun or verb to express deixis. Adverbs The adverbs are used to modify verbs with manner, probability, or frequency. Postpositions The postpositions function similar to particles in that they mark case on a noun. They can be attached to the end of a noun to form a postpositional phrase that expresses place and time. Particles Particles express case when attached to the end of a noun and mood when attached to the end of a clause. Particlees also may take on the function of a conjunction when linking two nouns together. Dolgopolsky List Used for comparisons with Mentekan. The formal register of Emitìnehänə direct from Mentekan is on the left of the slash, while the colloquial term is on the right. Example text Category:Languages